


In Our Hearts We All Stay Young

by striking_stroll18



Category: Formula E RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Background Relationships, Gen, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, other characters not mentioned in tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-04-24 04:42:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19166044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/striking_stroll18/pseuds/striking_stroll18
Summary: Antonio is a kindergarten teacher, Robin works in the kindergarten cafeteria. After a rather awkward first meeting Antonio tries to fix the situation since he really wants to be friends with the other man. Or if he was honest, a little bit more than just friends.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Massive thanks to R, E, M, E, M and J for encouraging me to write this. Special thanks to R, E, M and E for coming up with this au idea. Without you guys I never would have started this story.  
> Comments and kudos are welcome, just as constructive criticism.  
> C

"Mr. Toni, Mr. Toni! Will you draw something with me?" One of kids of Antonio's kindergarten group asked. "Of course, Pascal. Why don't you ask Tatiana and Alex if they want to draw with us? After all they haven't found many friends here and drawing with them would be an awesome opportunity to become friends with them" Antonio replied to the little boy with the black curls. He tilted his head in thought but nodded happily a few moments later. Then he rushed off towards the corner where the two mentioned kids were silently sitting. While Pascal was away Antonio spread various types of crayons and paper sheets across the drawing table. Just when he was finished Pascal returned with Tatiana and Alex in tow. "Alright guys, what do you want draw?" Antonio asked the kids. "A dinosaur!" Tatiana exclaimed loudly. "You're a girl, you can't like dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are only for boys" little Sebastien piped up from behind Toni's back. "A dinosaur, that's a great idea Tatiana! You can draw whatever you want. And Sebastien: Everyone can like dinosaurs not only boys" Antonio clarified. "Well if Tatiana can draw a dinosaur I will draw a flower meadow" Pascal decided. Then he turned to Alex.  
"What about you? What do you want to draw?" Alex shrugged his shoulders and looked at his shoes. Antonio felt pity for the young boy. His best friend Mitch just transferred to another group and apart from lunch time in the cantine they wouldn't see each other. "Well, what do you like, Alex? Do you like football? Or maybe you like dinosaurs too?" Antonio tried to help the brown haired boy. In the meantime the other two kids had already started drawing. "Uhm... Well, I like fish. And whales. And turtles. And the sea in general. I think I will draw a water world" Alex said decisively and becoming more and more confident. He also started drawing. Antonio looked around the room his group was in. All 14 kids were there, for once there was not a single fight or banter and everyone was playing one or another game in small groups. He really loved working here.

A little while later the bell announcing lunch time rang. Excitedly all kids got up and started yelling for their friends where they would try to sit in the cantine. Since this was happening every day Antonio knew well what do to now. "Alright guys, listen up please! We will all form a line at the door and we will be quiet there. And then we will all leave together to the cafeteria. Has everyone understood this?" He told 'his' kids. In return they did what he told them and because of that they were able to leave only a few minutes later. Antonio lead the way and after about half the way they were joined by another group of kids. "Hey Sam, how are you doing?" Toni greeted his fellow kindergarten teacher. "Good, you? How's Alex doing? Such a shame he and Mitch ended up in different groups..."  
"Yeah, I'm good too. Alex is really quiet and not really talking or playing at all. I always try to get the others to play with him." Antonio was kinda worried about the little boy, he was so still and Toni feared Alex would always stay by himself - and that didn't have a good effect on anyone. In the mean time they arrived at the cafeteria and as soon as the kids saw their friends from other groups they ran over to them to tell them about the things they had done so far today. Not much later a second bell rang announcing that the food counter was open. Excitedly the young children formed a queue in front of it. Antonio and Sam went over to the table assigned to the teachers and waited until most of the kids had their food. They then went to the food counter as well. On the way over Toni saw Alex who was beaming happily next to his best friend Mitch with a similar expression on his face. Also, Daniel was with them and Antonio hoped that Alex and Daniel would become friends so that the former would be less lonely in his group.  
Antonio was so lost in thought that he didn't notice it was his turn. Sam nudged Toni and rolled his eyes. But the situation didn't get any less awkward when the latter wasn't lost in thought anymore. Because instead of simply stating if he wanted the vegetarian food or the normal one Antonio stared at the man behind the counter. "So, is it the vegetarian or the normal dish for you?" The man asked Antonio a third time. "Toni? Are you alright?" Sam asked his colleague. "Uhm... Sorry, what did you say?" He asked the man behind the counter. "I asked if you wanted the vegetarian dish or the normal one." "The vegetarian dish, please" Toni answered and took his tray when he received it from the man. Then he went away with a blush on his face. "For me it's the normal dish, please. Oh, by the way, may I know your name?" Sam asked the other. "It's Robin, why?" He said while giving the tray to Sam. "Just curious."  
Then he went to follow Toni. After arriving at the table he sat down opposite of Antonio. He still had a faint blush on his face. "What exactly was that, Toni?" The man in question choked on his food and the blush on his face intensified again. "We were a little distracted by the new guy, weren't we?" Sam teased his friend. "Maybe" Toni avoided a proper answer to Sam's question. The latter shot his friend a curious look. "I was just confused that we got someone new working here." "You're a pretty bad liar, Antonio" Sam noted. "Maybe I was also thinking about how handsome he was" Toni admitted sheepishly. He never exactly came out to Sam but he neither he tried to hide that he was also interested in men. Since Sam didn't look surprised after he said that he knew or at least suspected it. "His name is Robin and I think you should apologize for your weird behaviour. His shift should end about the same time as yours, at least it's the same with the other cafeteria staff." 'He's probably right. Robin must be thinking I'm a total weirdo... Alright, I'll do it. After my shift I'll go and talk to him' Antonio decided.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of Antonio's work day was rather uneventful so when the last of his kids was picked up by their parents he started to range the group and collect his stuff. Antonio hurried a bit so he wouldn't miss Robin. He really hoped that Sam was right about the shift endings. Toni shut of the lights and grabbed his coat. He checked if he had his keys and left the room. On his way out he passed the doors to the cafeteria. The lights were still on and he could see some of the staff cleaning the floor and the tables. One of them was Robin and Toni was relieved the other one was still there. He slowed down his steps a little so he wouldn't have to wait too long outside while it was raining. Nevertheless, he still had to wait for around 10 minutes until Robin left the kindergarten building. He nodded at Toni and was just about to leave when the latter finally found his courage to speak up. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" "Yes, sure. What do you want to talk about?" "I'd like to apologize. For my weird behaviour earlier. I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable or anything." Antonio hoped that Robin could forgive him because if he was honest, Toni was rather lonely from time to time with only a few other people apart from Sam as his friend. But of course it would also be quite difficult working (more or less) together if Robin was thinking he was weird. "It's okay, I've seen weirder people. You seem to have a lot on your mind if you are that lost in thought. Anyway, I'm Robin."  
"Antonio. In what direction do you need to head?" Toni did certainly not feel the need to correct Robin why he was behaving that weird a few hours earlier but was glad that Robin didn't hate him. "I just need to go to the bus stop over there and hope there'll be a bus soon" Robin answered the question he had been asked. "I can drive you home if you want. It's raining pretty much and it's not exactly looking as if it will stop soon. Also I don't think there will be any bus within the next half hour" Antonio told Robin. At his offer Robin's face lit up. "If you really don't mind driving me home... That's really nice of you, thank you" Robin told Antonio. "I don't mind doing that. This way, my car's parked right over here." With this both men started going towards Antonio's car and not soon after both men sat inside. "So, where do you need to go, Robin? By the way if you want you can turn the radio on or connect your phone via Bluetooth" Toni told the other. Robin told him his address and then turned the radio on. He switched stations for a while until he found one that played a song he liked. Without noticing he started humming along. Antonio smiled, Robin seemed happy while sitting in the passenger seat and humming to the song on the radio. His smile didn't go unnoticed by Robin and to Antonio's regret the former stopped humming. "Sorry, I'm a terrible singer and that was probably not any less terrible" Robin apologized. "In my opinion it sounded just about perfect. Also, it's one of my favourite songs." Antonio came to a halt on a red light and looked at Robin. He had a faint blush on his cheeks and a shy smile on his face. "I really like this song too. Do you know why other songs by Sheppard? My personal favourites are 'Keep Me Crazy' and 'The Best Is Yet To Come'. What about you?" "I agree on the first one, but another favourite of mine is 'Lingering'. And that one song I never remember the name of." Both Antonio and Robin laughed about it and they continued to talk about music and other things they liked.

\--------

Half an hour later Antonio stopped his car in front of a small house. "Here we are. Hey, when do you have to be at work tomorrow? I could pick you up again?" Antonio suggested hopefully. "Work starts at 8.30, but I'm supposed to be there a bit earlier. When do you start working?" "8.30 too. I'll be here tomorrow morning at 7.45 to pick you up. Alright?" "Sounds good, but only if you don't mind" Robin worried about being a burden whenever someone offered to do something for him and it was already the second time he would use Antonio as a taxi. "If I mind I wouldn't suggest it. I'm literally living five minutes away from here so it's not a big thing." "Alright, thanks Antonio. For both driving me home today and picking me up tomorrow." Robin told the other man. He got out of the car and walked over to his front door. After unlocking it he entered his home. When he closed the door he could hear Antonio driving away. "Robin, there you are! How was your first day?" Nico, Robin's flatmate asked. When he heard his flatmate coming home he went to the door to greet him. "It was good but also a bit stressful. It's not what I wanted to do but at least it's a job." Robin shrug off his jacket and took of his shoes. "Now that you're working in a cafeteria you are responsible for dinner tonight. Plus I was already in the grocery shop so apart from cooking there's nothing left to do." With that Nico walked back into the living room and only a few seconds later Robin heard the sound of the TV again. He chuckled and followed his roomie into the living room. "I hope you're okay with pasta." Robin announced. All he got in return was a nod and after that Robin went over to the kitchen. Nico didn't lie when he said he was grocery shopping, the fridge was bursting at the seams and there were plenty of choices what he could make for dinner. He wanted to look up an easy recipe on his phone because despite working in a cafeteria he wasn't that good at cooking. That was when he realised that he didn't have his phone. He went back into the hall and checked the pockets of his jacket but his phone wasn't there either. Robin groaned, realising that he probably lost his phone in Antonio's car since he was a 100 percent sure he still had it when he left the kindergarten. "Nico? Can I have your phone for a second?" Robin called while walking over to the living room. "Why, what are you up to?" Nico asked him back. "I lost mine, probably in Antonio's car. I just wan-" "Full stop there, please. Who exactly is Antonio?" Nico paused the TV, sensing something far more interesting in his real life. "A guy who's also working at the kindergarten, he drove me home" Robin answered impatiently. "Can I have your phone now or not? I just need a recipe so I don't mess up dinner." "Okay fine. But I need to know more about this guy, Robin!" With this Nico tossed the other man his phone who then retreated back into the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Robin was woken up by Nico shaking him awake. "Robin, you need to wake up! Robin?" The still most asleep man groaned something incomprehensibly and buried his head below the pillow. "Dude, hurry up! I'm late for work and I can't spent another fifteen minutes trying to wake you up!" By now, Nico was getting kind of annoyed. Just because Robin lost his phone and therefore didn't have an alarm Nico was now responsible that the other man would get up. Since Robin didn't show any signs that he would get out of bed any time soon Nico took drastic measures. He started with pulling off the blanket of the bed. When that didn't get any reaction apart from a groan Nico left Robin's bedroom and went into the kitchen. There he filled two large cups with water and walked back to Robin. He still hadn't moved and Nico knew that this was the only way of getting his flatmate out of bed. Without saying anything to Robin Nico emptied one cup at Robin's feet and to his relief Robin twitched and grumpily glared at Nico. But he still didn't get up. After a few seconds of glaring at Nico Robin's head fell back onto the pillow and the former one was glad he brought two cups of water. Nico moved to the side of the bed to unceremoniously empty the second cup right above Robin's neck and back. At this the latter jumped out of his bed and glared at Nico for the second time this morning. "Finally you're awake. Took you long enough" Nico declared. "If I were you I'd hurry up. It's 7.20 just so you know. Anyway I have to leave now. By the way I'll pull a double shift today so don't wait for me with dinner. And get your damn phone back!" While saying this Nico left the room and then for work. What a morning he already had!

After Nico had left Robin realised what the other had just said. 7.20. Which means that Antonio would be there to pick him up in less than half an hour. When realisation hit him Robin sprinted into the bathroom and took a quick shower. After that he hurried into the kitchen to have a quick breakfast. Just when he was finished he could hear a car stopping in front of the house. A short glance out of the window confirmed that it was indeed Antonio. Robin put on his shoes and grabbed his jacket. He checked if he had his keys, wallet and everything else he needed and when he was sure he had everything with him he left his house. He quickly locked the door behind him and then went over to Antonio's car. He opened the passenger door and sat down in the car. "Good morning, how are you?" Antonio greeted Robin with a smile on his face. "Morning, I'm good. Almost overslept though. How are you?" "Great, thanks. Hey, you forgot your phone in my car yesterday. I think it died but I have a charger cable in the glove compartment that you can use." Antonio pulled Robin's phone out of his jacket pocket and gave it to him. "Yeah, I noticed when I wanted to look up something. It's also the reason why I almost overslept." Robin smiled embarrassed at the memory of how Nico had to wake him up. He checked if there was any sign of life of his phone but there was none. "You're right, it died. Where did you say is the charger cable?" "Glove compartment, on the left side I believe. When is your shift over today?" Robin opened the compartment and indeed, on the left side there was a charger. He plugged it in and only a short moment later the charging sign lit up the before black screen. "Same as yesterday, so 5.30. Why are you asking?" "Just wondered if I should give you a lift again. Before you ask, no I don't mind." "Thanks for the offer, I appreciate it and I'd be more than happy if I don't have to take the bus. Shall we meet up at the car or somewhere else?" "No, the car's just fine." After everything was settled for the ride back they changed their topic of conversation to something else.

\--------

A few hours later Robin was standing behind the food counter giving lunch to the kindergarten kids. A little boy with tousled brown hair was up next and if Robin was honest the young kid looked quite miserable, all pale and Robin was pretty sure there were tear streaks on his cheeks. "Hello young man, would you like the vegetarian dish or the normal one?" Robin greeted the boy friendly. "Normal one, please. What's your name, sir?" The young one muttered shyly. "My name's Robin, and yours?" "I'm Charles." "Well, there you go Charles, one normal dish for you." Robin smiled encouragingly at the kid, Charles, and got a shy smile in return. A few minutes after Charles had left Antonio was next in the queue. "Hey, is it the vegetarian or normal dish for you?" "I'd like the vegetarian one, please." "One vegetarian dish, as you liked. See you at the car later." "Yeah, see you there." The two men smiled at each other and to Antonio's luck Sam wasn't aware of their exchange because he was further back in the queue. Otherwise he would have teased Antonio about it, that was Toni sure about. He walked over to the table where all the other teachers were sitting and sat down next to an empty chair. While eating his lunch he overheard some of the others taking about the projects they were planning to do with their groups for the summer fete in a few months. Antonio had decided to let the kids choose what they would like to do. One group would do a little play and another group would learn short summer poems by heart. Toni thought of three different options he would let the kids choose from: doing an art gallery full of drawings having to do something with summer by the kids, crafting little butterflies, bees or something similar or building up a parkour in the courtyard the parents or siblings could participate in. The kids would choose at the end of the week so that they would have enough time to plan everything.

When lunch time was over Antonio returned with the kids of his group to their room. "Mr. Toni, can we go outside?" Daniel asked his teacher. "I don't think so, it's a little bit cold outside and I don't want anyone to get ill. Maybe we will go outside tomorrow if the weather is nicer" Antonio explained patiently to the little boy. "Okay" Daniel said quietly. He then walked over to Alex and Pascal again, immediately starting a conversation. Apparently, Alex was warming up towards the two other boys because he also participated in the conversation where he would usually have been more quiet. When they were back at their room all kids started playing one or another game again or started drawing. Antonio sat down at a table and had an eye on everyone. He was wishing this day to end soon because he was really looking forward to the drive home. He just enjoyed Robin's company and he hoped that the other one enjoyed his too. Maybe they could become friends, Robin was a genuinely nice guy. Antonio also decided he would ask Robin for his number but only if could think of a good excuse that wasn't "you're good looking and I want to get to know you better, preferably on a date that I need to ask you about and that I'm too shy to ask you on in person".


	4. Chapter 4

Several weeks passed with nothing happening apart from the shared ride to work or back home but that was just fine for Antonio. He felt safe while doing this, like there was no danger of embarrassing himself. One morning Antonio was late and when he arrived at Robin's home the other man was nervously waiting in front of the door. Few seconds after Toni stopped his car Robin opened the passenger door and sat down in the car.  
"You're there, finally." Robin grumbled. "Thought I forgot you?" Antonio teased the other. "No. But it would have been nice to know that you were late." "I'll try to be be on time from now on. But if I ever should be late again it would be good if I had a way of contacting you." In the mean time Antonio had started driving again. "Where is your phone?" Robin suddenly asked Toni. "Right here, why?" The man behind the steering wheel answered while picking it up from where it lay between the passenger seat and driver seat. As soon as he did that Robin snatched it out of his fingers. "Hey! What are you doing?!" "I'll give you my number so you can text me if you're ever late again. Or if you just want to talk feel free to text me too." At the end of the explanation Antonio could have sworn that he saw a blush creeping up on Robin's face but he wasn't entirely sure and therefore didn't say anything about it. He was happy that he got Robin's number though, and even without having to embarrass himself while asking.

After this Robin turned the radio on and just like when Antonio gave him a lift for the first time he started humming along to the song that was currently playing. Antonio had a soft smile on his lips, Robin was cute while sitting in the passenger seat with his head resting against the window. He had a dreamy look on his face and even when he noticed Antonio's smile he didn't stop.

\--------

That evening Robin was sitting in the living room watching a movie with Nico. He wasn't paying much attention though, ever since Antonio dropped him off at his house Robin was hoping to get a text from the former. Every few seconds Robin checked his phone to see if he got a new notification but there never was one.  
"Robin, I can basically hear you thinking, so what is it?"  
Nico seemed slightly annoyed while at the same time sounding concerned. The Dutchman sighed and argued with himself whether he should tell Nico about it or if he should brush it of as nothing. The decision was taken from him when his phone rang. 'One new message from unknown number' the screen read when Robin checked it.  
"Nothing, it's all fine. You know what, I'll leave for bed now. Enjoy the rest of the movie. Night."  
Then he almost fled the living room and sprinted into his own room. Once there he flopped down on his bed and unlocked his phone and read the message.

'Hey, how are you? It's Antonio by the way'

'I'm good, what about you? I already guessed it was you but thanks for clarifying it' Robin texted back before saving Antonio's number.

'I'm good too. Can I ask you something?'

'Sure, go ahead.'

'Are you free this Friday night? I have this gift coupon for some posh restaurant but it expires soon and I would like to use before. So what I'm actually trying to ask: will you go to the restaurant with me this Friday?'

Robin had to smile at the message. Did Antonio just ask him on a date? And did he do that in a rather awkward but very adorable way?

'Are you asking me on a date?'

'Maybe? If you want it to be a date it'll be one.'

'I'd love to. To both going on a date and this particular one.' Excitement and anticipation rushed through Robin and he let a happy giggle leave his mouth. But it was only Monday, how was he supposed to survive until Friday when Antonio and him shared a ride to work and back?

'You can't imagine how glad I am that you said yes. I'll pick you up at 7 on Friday. Can't wait for it!'

After this text Antonio went offline and Robin was happily staring at his phone screen. He couldn't believe it, he was actually going on a date with Antonio! When they had first met he never thought the Portuguese would have any interest in him, not as a friend and most definitely not as something more than that. And yet here he was, lying on his bed grinning like an idiot because he had a date with his kind of crush coming up. For once Robin felt like everything was going right in his life.

\--------

Antonio joyfully jumped around in his flat when Robin actually said yes to their date. Ever since they met Antonio was fascinated by the other man and the better Toni got to know him he was more and more fascinated. Asking Robin to go out with him had taken some massive cheering on from Sam and now that they actually had a date he was more than thankful that the Brit had insisted that Toni would ask Robin out. After quickly replying to Robin Antonio put his phone away. He opened his laptop and searched the website of the restaurant to make a reservation. Thankfully it went by without a problem and soon Toni picked up his phone again to text Sam.

'I owe you something' he simply texted the other man, hoping that he knew what he was taking about. Almost immediately Sam answered and Antonio was convinced that the Brit had been waiting for a report on what Robin said.

'Just don't screw it up, man. I really don't want to deal with a sad you again.'

*'Wow, that's such a nice thing to say. But thank you, Sam. I probably wouldn't have asked Robin out if you hadn't convinced me to.'*

'You don't need to thank me for that. Good luck on your date.'

After replying with a simple thanks he got ready for bed only to lie awake for hours because he was so excited for Friday night. After a long time of getting by more or less, Antonio actually felt like his life was getting more and more positive.


End file.
